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Trip Ideas & Trails
Signature driving trails and day-by-day itineraries across Carroll, Lee, Ogle & Whiteside counties, with real stops, honest timings, and end-to-end maps.
Follow the route
Driving Trails
Full DayTrailFeaturedThe Great River Road: Savanna to FultonCarroll County · Whiteside CountyThirty-five miles of Illinois Route 84 between the Palisades bluffs and Fulton’s Dutch windmill: river overlooks, two railroad depots, a backwater campground and a working mill that still grinds flour. Drive it north to south with the Mississippi on your right the whole way.OutdoorsHistoryCouples
Full DayTrailSmall-Town Antique & Main Street TrailCarroll County · Ogle County · Lee CountyFour main streets, eight shops and a former piano factory with two floors of dealers. Mount Carroll to Polo to Oregon to Dixon, a hunting trip through the region’s best-preserved downtowns, with ice cream halfway and no chain store the entire day.FriendsCouplesBudget-Friendly
Plan by the day
Itineraries
48 HoursItineraryFeatured48 Hours in Reagan CountryLee County · Whiteside CountyTwo days built around the two houses that made a president, the Dixon boyhood home and the Tampico apartment he was born in, with the Lincoln Highway, a restored Illinois Central depot and a four-thousand-acre bison prairie filling the space between them.HistoryCouplesFamilies
2 DaysItineraryFeaturedA Weekend in SavannaCarroll CountyA cabin above the Mississippi, an old movie house, coffee and books on Main Street, bluff trails, wildlife backwaters, and a choose-your-own lunch crawl, all within a few miles of Savanna.CouplesFriendsOutdoors
2 DaysItineraryFeaturedFly with CSC: Sky, Prairie & Rock River CountryOgle County · Lee CountyMake a tandem skydive the headline, then come back to earth with airport lunch, Rock River overlooks, restored prairie, Italian food, craft beer, and a pine-country cabin.FriendsOutdoorsCouples
2 DaysItineraryA Dixon Evening and the PrairieLee CountyAn evening in Dixon, a night by the Rock River, and Reagan’s boyhood home and the Nachusa bison the next day. Dates to be confirmed.HistoryOutdoorsCouples
Full DayItineraryFall Color Full-Day DriveCarroll County · Ogle CountyOne long October day from the Mississippi bluffs to the Rock River, taking in four state parks, an orchard and a dinner table facing the Black Hawk statue. Roughly 120 miles west to east, timed so the last overlook lands at golden hour.OutdoorsCouples
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Every Stop, in One Directory
823 restaurants, trailheads, museums and shops across Northwest Illinois. Filter by town, type or map.